As the reported execution of the uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stirs speculation about the stability of the hermit regime, one Japanese celebrity politician says he plans to embark on a trip there, despite being punished for going last month in breach of parliamentary rules.

Speaking on television Sunday, professional wrestler-turned upper-house lawmaker Antonio Inoki said he planned to make his 28th excursion to Pyongyang before the next Diet session convenes in late January. His secretary confirmed Monday that arrangements were in the works for such a trip. Read More »

Former Japanese pro-wrestler and upper house legislator Antonio Inoki has the rare distinction of having visited North Korea 26 times. So the maverick Mr. Inoki didn’t flinch from setting off for his 27th trip to the Hermit Kingdom on Friday — even though he wasn’t supposed to do so without receiving permission from parliament first.

“I take full responsibility for the trip, and as much as possible I’ll make sure it doesn’t cause trouble for the public,” Mr. Inoki told TV reporters gathered at Tokyo’s Haneda airport to watch him take off. Read More »

Worried about possible threats to regime stability from North Korean children educated abroad, Pyongyang has ordered its diplomats and state trading company officials stationed overseas to send their children back to the North, an expert on the secretive regime says.

Kansai University Prof. Lee Young Hwa said the order was the first of its kind passed under the North’s young leader Kim Jong Un, according to information he received from a North Korean trading official in China. The order, with a deadline set for the end of September, allows only one child per household to stay with each official abroad.

The order apparently stems from Pyongyang’s concern that children receiving an overseas education could undermine stability by spreading information about the outside world, or defecting.

The revelation follows reports earlier this week that the daughter of a senior North Korean official has sought asylum in South Korea. Read More »

After a period of relative calm, North Korea’s short-range missile tests this week were a reminder that the Stalinist state is never far from the headlines with a fresh bout of provocative behavior.

The U.S., South Korea and Japan are defensively postured and risk-averse, while North Korea is offensively postured and risk-seeking. So what explains the North’s apparent affinity for risk in routinely confronting its perceived enemies, mostly verbally but occasionally with deadly force?

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Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at japanrealtime@wsj.com